Religion and Coping: A Contribution from Religious Studies

Freud and Marx pegged religion as a beguiling painkiller. Recent social scientific research has exposed the not-so-simple reality of religious coping, identifying differential usage, means, and outcomes. Appropriately, psychologists, many with clinical training, lead the way. This article is a contribution from religious studies. It describes two thus far neglected modes of religious coping that are prominent in traditions and distinctly representative of religious responses to suffering—magical rituals and religious experiences. Consideration of these forms will address deficiencies and imbalances in the literature apparent from the study of religions. Specifically, the current investigation of religion and coping would benefit from historical perspective, greater attention to unconscious coping processes, heightened use of qualitative data, and fuller recognition of the challenges inherent in the therapeutic use of religion .     

马克思主义宗教观和新时代宗教学

发展新时代中国宗教学,首先要把马克思主义宗教观坚持好、维护好、研究好、运用好,这是我国宗教学研究的根本任务;其次要彻底打破“马克思主义只有宗教观没有宗教学、只有西方才有宗教学”的神话,把马克思恩格斯开创的运用辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义科学世界观和方法论进行的宗教研究作为新时代中国宗教学的正统;三是要加强对西方宗教学的研究但不能盲信照搬,要用马克思主义立场观点方法进行科学分析,取其精华、去其糟粕;最后,马克思主义宗教学既要坚持开展理论研究,又要关注现实、研究问题,追求为用立学、学以致用。     

LGBT Activism and Reflexive Religion: A Case Study from Finland in the Light of Social Movements Theory

In this article we focus on lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender/-sexual (LGBT) activism that is grounded in some form of religious identification. Using the approach of the study of social movements highlights the features that enable such a movement to operate and proliferate in the heterogeneous, fluid, and distinctly non-institutional context of the contemporary religious or spiritual field and also to effect changes in the ranks of a traditional religious institution. Religious LGBT activism is a process-oriented and network-shaped movement that attributes positive value to and takes advantage of—and gains resilience from—an internal diversity in contrast to being institutionally organised and programmatically or dogmatically defined. We suggest that the current public exposure and treatment of the issues around religion and sexuality should be seen as negations of old and legitimation of new religious identities—not only of sexual identities. Rather than mobilisation through collective identity, religious LGBT activism emerges as part of an active process of value production wherein reflexivity and diversity are central features fostered by both individual and collective negotiations of subjective and emotionally challenging and motivating experiences.     

Gender and Infertility: A Relational Approach to Counseling Women

Much of the research on infertility reinforces differing effects for women and men, with women reporting more serious repercussions medically, psychologically, and socially. However, the unique counseling needs of infertile women have not been addressed through traditional counseling theory. The Relational Model (J. V. Jordan, 1995) of women's development is a theory that explains women's development in a context of relationships, specifically relationships that promote growth for self and others. This model is applied to counseling women who are experiencing infertility, and a case presentation is provided to illustrate the approach.     

A Relational Obligations Approach to the Foot-In-The-Mouth Effect

An earlier study by Howard (1990) employed a "foot-in-the-mouth" approach (FITM) to increase the frequency of compliance with charitable requests. This effect was explained through consistency theory: People are more likely to comply with a request for a charitable donation if the person making the request first asks the potential donor how he or she is feeling, and then acknowledges the donor's response. The potential donor was expected to behave in accordance with his or her publicly stated feeling-state. However, some of the compliance in Howard's study may be attributable to an increased perception of relationship between the requester and donor (Roloff, 1987). Not only was the donor required to be consistent with his or her publicly stated feeling-state, but the donor had to behave in a manner consistent with the relationship implied by the requester. Two studies examined this possibility. The first study found a FITM approach that manipulated only relational obligations consistency resulted in higher rates of compliance than both the standard and feeling-state FITM approach. A second study examined the mechanism for this increased compliance. Results show that although both FITM approaches produced more positive relational perceptions between the requester and donor than the standard approach, the relational obligations approach produced more positive relational perceptions than did the other FITM approach.     

Definitions and Evaluation of Religion and Spirituality Items by Religious Professionals: A Pilot Study

In an effort to clarify the concepts of religion and spirituality religious professionals (Imams, Ministers, Priests, and Rabbis) defined the terms religion and spirituality and responded to whether the concepts religion and spirituality were different (i.e. non-overlapping), the same, or overlapping. Additionally, they rated each item from the five measures (purportedly to assess religion or spirituality) for the extent to which the items assess the construct of religion and/or spirituality. Content analysis of definitions revealed religion as objective, external, and ritual or organizational practices that one performs in a group setting and that guide one’s behavior; while spirituality was defined as internal, subjective, and divine experience or direct relationship with God. Primarily the concepts were viewed as overlapping. Analysis for item ratings revealed few within group differences and relatively few between group differences for ratings of item relevance to assess religion and spirituality. Factor analysis of item ratings revealed one factor named religion/spirituality.Corine Hyman, M.S., is a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology at Saint Louis University. Her research interests include religion, spirituality, anxiety, and depressive disorders, minority issues, PTSD, and test development.Paul J. Handal received his Ph.D. degree from Saint Louis University in clinical psychology in 1969. His interests have included education and training of clinical psychologists as director of the clinical program at Saint Louis University from 1973 until 1993. Additional interests include research in the area of psychology and religion and its relationship to adjustment and health in adolescence and adults. Correspondence to Dr. Paul J. Handalm, handalpj@slu.edu.     

现象学和宗教现象学:对一种宗教学方法的思考

本文拟通过对哲学意义上的现象学和宗教现象学核心概念的整理,考查二者之间的联系与区别,并试图从哲学现象学的角度反观宗教现象学,重新思考宗教现象学的可能性及宗教研究的方法问题。     

The Relationship Between Religion and Religious Coping: Religious Coping as a Moderator Between Religion and Adjustment

This study examined the relationship between and among religion, religious coping, and positive/negative psychological adjustment and investigated whether the four religious coping styles of Self-Directing, Deferring, Collaborative, and Turning to Religion would significantly moderate the relationship between religion and psychological adjustment. Each of the four religious coping measures were significant moderators between religion and positive and negative adjustment. However, the high self-directing and high religion group showed opposite results from the other three coping styles, in that they were the most maladjusted and least satisfied with life compared to the other three integration and religious coping groups. The participants high on religion and high deferring, high collaborative, and high turning to religion groups were less maladjusted and more satisfied than the other three groups in each of these religious coping styles.     

宗教与全球发展:一种对话路径

宗教与全球发展成为当代社会的一个重要议题,一个标志在于联合国千禧年发展目标的提出及世界宗教和精神领袖千禧年和平高峰会议。其中,由前世界银行行长及当时的坎特伯雷大主教联合发起的世界信仰发展对话,即为推动类似目标的一个重要机构。发展的目的在于人。贫困不仅包括物质的层面,也包括精神的层面。全球经济的发展需要一种伦理和价值的支撑。文化应该作为一种创新机制,参与并影响全球发展的过程。在中国,宗教是建设社会主义和谐社会的重要因素。中共十七大明确指出,要发挥宗教在社会经济发展中的重要作用。十七届六中全会则明确提出文化体制改革的目标。随着中国改革开放的进一步深入,中国对世界的影响日益加强,文化和精神的维度在社会发展和国家建设方面将扮演更重要的作用。中国模式也将对世界论坛的讨论产生一定影响。     

Hungary for Religion: A Supply-Side Interpretation of the Hungarian Religious Revival

The collapse of Soviet Communism has brought about sweeping revivals of religion in most of Eastern Europe and the Soviet successor states. This astonishing change in religious activity appears ideal for further testing of the supply-side theory of religious change. In this paper I investigate whether the dramatic religious revival in Hungary can be explained using a supply-side framework. I begin with a brief sketch of the history of religion in 20th-century Hungary in order to place current data in the proper context. Next, I present data from national surveys of Hungary and eyewitness accounts to assess the causal relationship between religious restrictions and religious activity as predicted by supply-side theory. Then I investigate secularization accounts of religious activity in Hungary and conclude that the supply-side thesis best fits the available data. Finally, I indicate the leveling off of the Hungarian revival due to decreased religious competition and posit future expectations concerning religious activity in Hungary.